After Aishwarya Rai Bachchan and Abhishek Bachchan, filmmaker Karan Johar has now approached the Delhi High Court seeking protection of his personality rights.
The court heard his plea on Monday, with senior advocate Rajshekhar Rao representing him.
Karan claimed that his name and photographs were being misused on websites and social media pages, sometimes even for raising funds. He argued that such actions violated his rights and damaged his image.
During the hearing, Meta Platforms responded that not all online comments or posts were defamatory.
Advocate Varun Pathak cautioned that a blanket ban on jokes, memes or comments could set a dangerous precedent and open the floodgates for similar cases.
Justice Manmeet Pritam Singh Arora also noted that there is a difference between harmless memes, disparagement and unauthorized commercial use of someone’s name or face.
He stressed that the court cannot restrict all fan pages or comments without clear identification of misuse.
Rao, however, insisted that Karan had the right to control the use of his persona.
He argued that viral memes often generate revenue and no one should exploit his identity without consent. The matter will next be heard on Monday at 4 pm.
